


Cohesion: The Surface Tension of Fairytales

by SaltyNightmares



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fish dick, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, It'll happen people, M/M, Of It, Slow Burn, The Shape Of Water, also, also influenced by tfa, be prepared, if ya know what im saying, is what its based on, like ALOT, like i'm really really slow, loosely follows the shape of water, slightly furry-ish, slow enough to boil a few eggs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 12:10:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12958893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaltyNightmares/pseuds/SaltyNightmares
Summary: So you know the Del Toro masterpiece, The Shape of Water(2017), yeah but with Reylo."We're alone, you and me. Lonely people like us deserve one another. I know there's so much more you wanted to say to me. And there was so much more I wanted to show you, about me, about us, about you. But there wasn't enough time, was there? Even a lifetime of hugs and kisses and moonlight dances could never fill the space in between us. Did you still think about me? I wonder-I wonder if it could have been different. But I forget myself, don't I? You're the silent princess and I'm just your green knight...night, it'll be dark by the time you'll get this, right? Princess?""Goodnight Princess. Goodnight." The tape recorder cut and the room was flooded with the sound of static silence until Rey broke out sobbing.





	Cohesion: The Surface Tension of Fairytales

**Author's Note:**

> ( ͡° ͜ ʖ ͡° ) As promised, TSOW!Reylo, it's not going to follow the canon of either The Shape of Water or The Force Awakens, so if that's a dealbreaker, I'm sorry. I do hope you enjoy Cohesion though! 
> 
> Also, just like Eliza in The Shape of Water, Rey in this fic is mute and speaks in ASL. For some parts, I describe the motions her hands make and I'm doing to do my best to be as accurate as possible but I might make mistakes, so if I do please let me know so I can correct it. Other times, for the simplicity of writing, I will italicise her speech to signify it isn't sounds but it is speech and the other characters will treat it as such, unless they are like "certain someone" who is above learning ASL. But that's for another chapter;) 
> 
> Thank you to everyone that supported me and pushed me to write this, love y'all!

Cold, so damn cold; it wasn’t the New-England wind that cut into her patchwork clothes or the pelting ice that fell from heaven, intent on burrowing into hell, that made Rey’s teeth chatter and her mind seize up. No, it was the emptiness of it all. A great sheet of fog descended down upon her quiet reverie, forcing her to retreat inward, as a slow cold tendril crawled up her leg, threatening to drag her down with it. 

It was with this soul drenching cold that she finally awoke to her alarm clock, the last in a series of three just like it, a sure sign that she would not be making it to work on time. 

Rey managed a quiet sigh, pausing for just a moment, remembering the cold from her dream. The places and people around her changed but the cold remained. Its sharp edges and isolation hammering at her defenses, scrambling to reach her heart. Deep down, she knew the day she let that cold in, would be her last. 

The moment passed and she rushed out of bed. More moments, indistinguishable from background noise made by any old television set, and Rey found herself barely punching in her timecard. 

Behind her, Poe Dameron, her closest and really only friend, clicked his tongue. “Really, Rey?” 

She returned with a pointed look, shuffling off in the direction of her usual route. Cleaning nondescript lab after lab, pale off-white walls housing desks and foreign machinery, it could drive a person sick just how many rooms blended together in the building. Granted, it paid much better than her last job at Jakku inc. She much preferred the quiet janitorial position in First Order Labs. Everyone stuck to themselves, focused on getting the job done and going home. That kind of life suited, she had found. Or at least that's what she had resorted to telling herself. Truth was, Rey didn’t know what she wanted from life, but maybe...maybe it just wasn’t this. 

Rey stopped in her tracks when she realized Poe wasn’t following her. Technically, he was the floor supervisor but he liked to tag along with her, the runt in his pack of cleaners. She quickly signed to him, shifting her weight from leg to leg. The faster they got started the sooner they could go home. 

He simply shook his head and motioned for her to follow him. Another quiet sigh escaped her.  _ You’re going to get us in trouble. _

Poe shook his head again and took her hand, leading them away from the main hub and down a set of halls, they both knew were off limits. “Remember how I met that cute R & D guy during my graveyard shift?” 

She did. Of course, she did. It was all he could talk about.  _ Finn this and Finn did that _ . She was happy for him as happy as a single friend can be when their only other friend starts spending time with another. Rey nodded and patted his hand, a hint of a smile on her lips.

“Well, he may have gotten a little something-something for us?” The implications of his phrasing caught up with him and Poe corrected himself. “As in work. Just work, nothing….you know.” 

Before Rey could even think about teasing him, they seemed to have arrived at a door that, according to the signs posted around it and the heavy-duty security, no one was supposed to know about. 

Poe reached into his back pocket and pulled out an ID card, that clearly wasn’t his, and shoved it into the slot. The moments in between insertion and the click of freedom were harrowing. Getting caught in a restricted zone, avoiding work, with someone else’s ID, to be crude, would land them in the shitter. 

The door gave way and the pair stepped into, what at first glance, appeared to be another lab. The same egg-shell colored cement walls, the same complicated, somehow new-looking machinery, the same stacks of “confidential” paperwork, it was just another plain room. Until her, eyes reached the middle of the room, past the equipment and desks. Large sheets of metal gave way to thin panels of glass, something that was rare in their windowless warehouse. A tank, she thought, what were they doing with a tank. Her thoughts traveled further, what lived in there? 

Sensing her confusion, Poe quickly, explained, “Oh yeah, they got something wild in there. I guess that’s why we aren’t allowed in this part of the place? Don’t wanna disturb their ‘work’.” 

Work was said with air quotes. Though, Rey didn't know that as she had begun slowly walking towards the item in question. Each step felt lighter and lighter, a soft warmth bubbled underneath the sleeves of her work shirt, as her curiosity burst, questions fluttering about to and fro. She managed to reach the middle of the room when the door clicked behind them and she froze in fear, a familiar cold settling into her ankles. 

Poe was a little less startled, turning around quickly but relaxing at the sight of the newcomer, “Finn!” 

Finn, who Rey thought matched Poe’s description pretty well, closed the heavy door with much more grace than they had, giving the other man a quick half-smirk in greeting. “Good morning, though I would ask we keep it a bit quieter.” 

“Oh-” Poe slapped a hand over his mouth, cheeks flushing at his obvious excitement. Rey’s raised brow was of little help and too much encouragement. “Right, sorry, um…” 

Poe stumbled over himself for a moment. Finn didn’t move to help him, simply waiting and watching with what Rey figured was quiet amusement. She was about to sign and try and explain, when Poe finally turned to her, “This is Rey, the one I told you about!” 

Again, Finn gestured for him to speak quieter but laughed softly, “As I can see.” 

He moved over to her and stuck out a hand, “My name’s Finn, nice to meet you.” 

The first thing she noticed was the sound his lab coat made as he extended his arm, bunched up the fabric. It scratched the inside of her head, strangely reminding her of something new. The second thing was his eyes, they were as soft as his hands, with kind rims and edges that connected to his smile. He was either the most genuine scientist in the building or the best one at faking. Rey chose to believe the former and used her free hand to sign.  _ Nice to meet you too!  _

If he didn’t understand her, Finn didn’t mention it and turned back to Poe, gesturing vaguely. “Shall we….uh, talk?” 

Poe nodded dumbly once or twice, before rushing over to Rey. “I’m gonna hammer out a few details with Finn….out in the hall….alone...for a just a few minutes.” It was a statement but somehow he looked to her for an answer, paused in place. 

Rey rolled her eyes but retained her smile.  _ Have fun making out, you dork. _

Before he could protest, she lightly shoved him in the direction of Finn, turning around, re-interesting herself with the only thing of note in the room. 

The door clicked once more and she heard the retreating footsteps, punctuated by “Don’t tap the glass, it disturbs the fish” from Finn. It was meant to be Joke, she gathered but something in between in words told her there was a warning beneath the tease. 

Still, she walked on, propelled by simple curiosity and complicated need. 

Though the temperature of the room had not changed, nor did she remember it being this much colder, a trail of condensation trickled down one of the panes of glass. It was that harmless drop of water that captured her attention, eyes following its descent, hand slowly rising to meet it. Her middle finger reached the glass first, the tip danced on its surface. It surprised her how much warmer it felt, as if her hand had already warmed it. Next, her index finger, then her ring finger, followed closely by her pinky. Her hand lay splayed out on the glass, a thin fog settling around it. Only now, that she was inches from the tank, now that she was touching it, feeling it, did she realize it was full of water. Not the kind of water one'd expect, it was dark, full of shadows and shapes, none of which possessed names. 

Bubbles, small, almost cute, trailed up the side of the tank, the same one the drop of condensation followed. A greeting was the first thing to pop into her mind. Her fingers continued to dance alongside the bubbles, Finn’s warning, a distant, dull ringing. 

As if a curtain had been drawn open, something as murky as the water it emerged from pressed onto the glass, though from the wrong side. Its sudden appearance was enough to startle Rey out of her quiet and take a shaky step back. Her foot found air and she tumbled backward, eventually balancing herself on a nearby desk. The something remained flush against the glass and the distance made its appearance clearer. 

It was a hand or at least something that could only be likened to a hand. Five finger-like appendages connected to a bigger mass like a hand was. But this hand could not be human, strange, light-catching scales took the role of skin, giving way to claw-like nails at the tips of its fingers. The hand stood still for a moment before, ever so slowly, tapping against the glass, just as she’d been doing moments earlier. 

The dance was familiar, for it was hers. Rey inched back over to the tank, fear leaving her body with each movement, a set of bubbles fluttered off its almost-seductive scales. Her hand returned to its spot, slowly bringing itself palm-to-palm, tip-to-tip, flush at the new hand, falling quietly into its rhythm. Only then, with her hand and its hand separated by that thick, clear glass, did her eyes venture forth and see what the hand was connected to. 

The same iridescent scales, shimmering in the low-light of the lab, trailed up something that she could only call an arm. That almost arm connected to a torso, which seated something she’d call a head. The scales slowly gave way to pale green flesh, perhaps skin, the glass was starting to distort her view. Its face was dimly lit, half shrouded by the natural shadows of the water. Rey could make out familiar features, two black orbs sat where eyes normally did, they followed her, trailing along the same features in her. While looking into its face was like looking into another human, it also wasn’t. The creature had no nose and tight line where she could only assume was its mouth. While the view was foreign, she wasn’t alarmed or disgusted or even shocked, instead, Rey found herself intrigued, enraptured, wanting to see more, learn more. 

They remained there for what felt like a long time, eyes locked in observation or perhaps something almost like a conversation. Their hands continued to dance together, somehow following a pattern they could no longer see. The glass had never felt so warm like it was slowly melting beneath the pressure of their dance. 

The creature tilted its head as if to look at her from a different angle, straining to convey something he had not the language to do. Before the message could be born, their dance was broken and the creature retreated back into the same dark depths of the tank from whence it had come. 

Disappointment swelled in her chest. What had she done? Did she startle him? Her hand continued to tap, slower than before. Perhaps she could coax him out again. 

A hand on her shoulder froze her movement, Rey bit back a shiver as a familiar voice spoke, “Like I said, it disturbs the fish.” 

When she didn’t turn, Finn put his hand over hers and gently pried it off the tank and pulled her away. His hand was degrees colder than hers. 

“It’s better to just leave it be, the interaction could skew our testing.” This was said with a smile like one did when speaking to a child. His hand remained on hers as his eyes probed hers for a moment, searching for something, perhaps. It was unclear whether or not, he found what he was looking for. 

Poe cleared his throat and Finn dropped her hand but kept smiling, walking over to Poe, placing the same hand on his shoulder. Rey watched him squeeze it with great care, like one handling fine china, not that she’d ever held any, though if she did, it would be so. Poe’s eyes trailed from Finn’s eyes, down the length of his arm, to the hand and the heat it spread into his shoulder, a reaffirmation of something Rey was not privy to. 

Rey turned back and looked over her own shoulder, the water in the tank was still. No dancing bubbles or beckoning condensation. Silence. 

Someone cleared their throat, perhaps it was Poe again, perhaps it was Finn. Rey didn’t know. She almost didn’t care. She was still looking at the shapes in the water, wondering if they were looking back at her. 

**Author's Note:**

> More to come, it's gonna be a short one in terms of chapters but they'll be long (much longer than this first one anyway)
> 
> Questions? Comments? Updates?
> 
> saltynightmares.tumblr.com


End file.
